The art of balancing a velvety matte finish with hydration and moisture has become the beauty industry’s recent obsession. Following the editorial lead of pioneering makeup artists and designers, this unglossy trend has been the most desired and welcomed lip of the year.
From innovative formulas packed with skincare ingredients to luxe textures that glide on like velvet, here’s a selection of some gorgeous hydrating matte lip products that are worth putting your money where your mouth is.
The newest colours and formulas reimagined by Lucia Pica have the most exquisite texture – buttery, velvety, and pigment-rich. Texture is always the focus for Lucia, making these lipsticks not only visually unrivaled but very nourishing to wear. Infused with Rose flower extract, the hydrating formula allows you to play by dabbing and blending with your finger for a more natural stain, or applying full coverage for a full pigmented pop of gorgeousness. I’m obsessed with this latest colour range of cooler tones. The ‘Septembre’ shade is the perfect universal nude, while ‘Attached’ offers an autumnal deeper brown with the slightest hint of red undertone – perfect for winter parties!
Prada entering the world of beauty has majorly upped our product checklist requirements. With a nod to beauty trends of past generations as keepsakes and accessories, this slick silver lipstick from Prada is the perfect modern reimagination of this. The triangle-shaped bullet lipstick lets you define a sharp lip contour with ease, offering a sophisticated and refined matte finish. Each of the 19 shades in the collection is formulated with a black base and three additional pigments, to reproduce the depth and integrity of the label’s signature Saffiano textured leather, where the stamping method of the leather is mimicked on the lipstick colour itself. Proper Prada quality.
We can trust Westman Atelier to deliver the best hydrating matte lipsticks. On application, it feels as light as air yet delivers unparalleled bold, clean color. Formulated with peptides, Vitamins C and E, this lipstick plumps and nourishes your lips with long-lasting pigment without drying. Founder and makeup artist Gucci Westman knows how to bring a face to life and this lipstick is the perfect product to do so. The colour range is genius – I particularly love Pique, with its pinky brown gorgeousness, that adapts to suit everyone. Plus the sleek, refillable packaging with a magnetic mirrored cap is very on brand beautiful.
As Dries Van Noten brings a unique and much-needed angle to the fashion industry, they have also recently delivered a very welcomed offering to the world of beauty – exquisite packaging, unusual yet moreish scents, and these wonderful vivacious lipsticks. Dries Van Noten is always pioneering the way with an inimitable portrayal of how beauty looks, so it’s no surprise this lipstick range balances a fun, bold, yet sophisticated and fresh take on beauty.
Animal prints, dynamic colours, and refillable casing lend themselves the perfect home for these equally appealing formulas. Made with a quality amount of rosehip oil, your lips are left super hydrated, soft, and pretty. The formula creates a matte, soft-focus blur of colour without any dryness. With an array of pinks and reds the colours are just as fun as the packaging. A non-regretable purchase.
I have fallen particularly in love with the Matte Liquid Lipstick. This formula is the perfect blend of bold colour and lasting hydration, delivered in an airy mousse texture for a blurred, soft-focus velvet finish. The shades dry down to a matte finish without feeling tight or dry on the lips, and as Lucia suggests you can use your finger and apply as much or as little to either achieve her iconic blurred lip effect, or a more built-up lipstick look. The shades offer a slightly unusual take on Browns – both cool and red-toned, proving once again, that brown lipsticks are for the win. This is the liquid lipstick that will make you reconsider everything you thought you knew about mattes.
Although this might not appear as the most ‘Matte’ of all the lipsticks, this is absolutely one to consider. Dubbed a ‘Serum Lipstick’, this nourishing formula works as a lipstick, serum, and stain all in one. Like with all RMS products you know they are gentle, safe, and caring for your skin. This not only delivers beautiful rich colour, and a smooth yummy feel but actually works to hydrate and moisturise your lips while they look so good. This little stick has found its way to becoming a permanent addition to my coat pocket. It is an absolute everyday essential, and one that I’m sure you will become obsessed with.
It would be rude to talk about the best lipsticks without mentioning everyone’s favourite, Pillow Talk from Charlotte Tilbury. The 2024 version of this cult-favorite shade is slightly reimagined to offer a more hydrating version of its former self. With a blend of butters and oils, this lipstick offers a matte finish without any dryness. The colour is universally genius and suits everyone, and with this evolved formula, it’s no wonder it’s one of the consistently top-selling lipsticks on the market.
With an enormous range of shades, and managing to maintain its spot as the most premium of beauty luxury – it’s safe to say the Chanel lipstick is an iconic, and possibly essential part of a beauty uniform. This Luminous matte lipstick from Chanel maintains its iconicness – feeling like a second skin, the formula delivers intense, concentrated pigments for a bold, long-lasting finish. While it appears creamy initially, within a minute it dries to a finish that lives up to the velvet matte description. Infused with jojoba oil and shea butter, it instantly hydrates and softens, leaving your lips highly pigmented and moisturized. Try 72 – MYSTÉRIEUSE for a super sexy deep berry burgundy.
This must be the best modern take on the nonchalant ‘French girl’ look. Violette Serrat founder of the brand has dubbed this lipstick “bouche mordue”, meaning ‘bitten lips’ in French. The brief was to create a barely-there lip stain that wasn’t quite full coverage but offered more tint than natural lips. And this is the perfect halfway point, plus feels beautiful and moisturising to wear. The product is matte and very sheer – so layer it to build up and deepen the pigment. J’adore the colour ‘Bonbon Coquelicot’ – a warm, fiery red with nude tones.
Voila – a lip pencil that hydrates. ILIA’s Hyaluronic Lip Pencil is the ultimate multi-tasker, acting as both a liner and a lipstick. You can use it as a liner for lipsticks or gloss, or I prefer to let it do its thing and wear it on its own. Its long lasting and stunning colours have become my cult handbag lip product. Infused with hyaluronic acid, it ensures that your lips remain plump and hydrated. My favourite shade is ‘Genre’, a deep and rich earthy brown. This liner is perfect for defining your lips with precision while offering a pressed and blurred pigment. I love to lightly apply this to the outside of my lip line and smudge it in with my finger for an effortless, matte stain. It’s the best!
Ultra pigmented, and pretty transfer proof – this lipstick boasts a formula that manages to keep your lips moisturised and pigmented for a proper length of time. The iconic ‘999 Forever Dior shade – a timeless red, is a head turning colour, that is perfect for the party season. The fact that it’s ultra-comfortable to wear and won’t dry your lips is a massive bonus to a beautiful bold matte look.
